Fairy Gifts: A Between the Worlds Anthology

by Morgan Daimler

  Jess beamed at that, “Excellent. Of course there won’t be a written contract but there will be spoken vows and that will be just as binding, yes?”

  “By our Law, yes,” Bleidd said. “Which will be quite scandalous. And we’ll need rings. If we shall do this as you want, perhaps we should try to find matching ones to give to our partners?”

  “Ah, I see so I would give the same ring to you and Allie?”

  “Yes,” Bleidd said. “Knowing Allie and her eternal quest for fairness between you and I, I imagine that is what she shall do for us.”

  “I like that idea,” Jess said. “And finding the rings in such a short time will be a challenge.”

  Bleidd grinned in a conspiratorial way, as if he already had some plan in place for this, but before Jess could ask him anything he was standing and stretching. “Well, let us go and celebrate our engagement – which shall surely be one of the shortest ever since the wedding is in two days – with some coffee. I may even be motivated enough to cook you something.”

  Jess laughed and stood as well. “I’m flattered at such attention.”

  “You should be,” Bleidd said, stretching again and heading towards the kitchen. Jess followed, his spirits lifting with each step. He glanced back at the tree and smiled.

  ****************************

  “You’re sure you don’t mind working on the solstice?” Allie asked again, chewing her lip. The store had been busy that morning but the afternoon was slow so she and her only employee were standing behind the sales counter going through a box of used books that had been sitting in the back room for longer than Allie cared to admit. The counter was now covered by several piles of books sorted by condition and general topic.

  Kelly laughed, her snowman earrings bobbing cheerfully with the movement. “Allie! You’ve already asked me twice. I don’t mind. Really, really. My coven is getting together tomorrow instead of the actual solstice anyway, and you close early enough that Will and I can still keep our dinner reservations without a problem. So relax.”

  “I know, I know,” Allie said, sorting as she talked. “I just feel bad asking on such short notice.”

  “If you don’t mind my asking,” Kelly said looking critically at a copy of a text on magical theory. “Why do you suddenly need the day off? You never did say. Not that you have to tell me if you don’t want to. I’d understand if it’s private.”

  “Oh, well, it’s just I, ummm, I’m kind of getting married,” Allie said blushing furiously.

  “What?” Kelly exclaimed loudly, putting down the book she was holding and turning to Allie. “Get out!”

  “No, really,” Allie said, shifting awkwardly.

  “You’re getting married?” Kelly repeated. “I mean I knew you were engaged, but you never mentioned setting a date and…wait, if you’re getting married why didn’t you schedule the time off earlier?”

  “Ah, it’s kind of complicated, but elven marriage is all about a legal contract, and I was waiting until I had both of them, the contracts, and then yesterday the second one arrived,” Allie said, knowing she was babbling but unable to stop herself. “And we were just going to sign them but my friend Jason said we should have a real wedding and, somehow we ended up deciding to do it on the solstice.”

  “Wow,” Kelly said. “I take it this will be a small wedding then?”

  “Oh yes, very small,” Allie said. “Just a few close friends and some of one of my fiancé’s family, and a little party after.”

  “Do you have everything you need?” Kelly asked, and Allie was touched by the genuine concern she felt from Kelly through her shields.

  “Well, that’s a good question,” she said, giggling nervously. “We’re doing it at my house, so we have a place. And we’re good for food and a cake. My friend who works at the theater hooked me up with this seamstress who is going to help me with a dress – actually I have to go there after we close today. A friend of mine who’s a priestess is going to do the ceremony. I think the only thing I need to figure out is rings.”

  Kelly smiled, clapping her hands, “Oh perfect! I can help with that!”

  “You can? How?”

  “Allie, didn’t I ever tell you what Will does for a living?” Kelly said, than at Allie’s blank look. “He’s a jeweler. He’s the manager of Lux Divine.”

  “Ohhh,” Allie said nodding. Lux was the nicest jewelry store in town. “Ah, I’m not sure that’s exactly in my price range.”

  “Don’t worry,” Kelly said, waving away Allie’s concern. “Unless you want something covered in diamonds a basic men’s wedding band actually isn’t that expensive, not even in Will’s store. Here’s what we’ll do, you meet me over there tomorrow after you close here and I’ll help you find something in your price range that you like, and I’ll make sure you get a good price for it.”

  “That’s really nice of you Kelly,” Allie said, meaning it.

  “No problem, I only want one thing in return.”

  Allie, who had grown up long enough in Fairy to be very wary of words like that tensed immediately, “What’s that?”

  Kelly smiled widely again, radiating cheer, “Make sure you get lots of pictures and bring them in so I can see how it all turns out.”

  Allie relaxed, smiling in return, “Sure, I’ll see if someone can take pictures and I’ll definitely bring any pictures in to show you.”

  “Perfect,” Kelly said going back to the books.

  Yeah Allie thought feeling suddenly optimistic about the whole wedding idea maybe it is.

  ************************************

  After work Allie drove over to the theater, parking her little green car close to the front steps. The lot was almost deserted right now, the next rehearsal wasn’t starting for over an hour and a half, and Shawn had assured her that his friend had plenty of time to see her before the theater crew would need to get set up. She climbed out of her car, mindful of the slush that could make the footing slippery, and was just starting to walk up the front steps when Shawn’s silver compact car turned the corner. So she stood in the chilly evening and waited for him to join her, glad that she didn’t have to go in alone.

  He parked next to her car and jogged quickly to her side, seemingly oblivious to the snow and ice. She couldn’t restrain a smile at the joy he was radiating as he approached. “Allie! Sorry I’m a bit late I met Wendy for dinner and then got caught in traffic.”

  “Its fine Shawn, I just got here myself,” Allie reassured him.

  “Really? Oh good. I was afraid you’d been waiting and freezing your butt off,” he said laughing. He waved in the direction of the door and started jogging up the stars leaving Allie to follow more slowly in his wake. “Come on, let’s get inside, Janet probably is waiting and I’m super excited to see what she came up with.”

  She shook her head slightly, amused at his enthusiasm. He held the door open for her, the warm air escaping in clouds that distorted the air, but with her bad ankle she didn’t dare move too quickly. It was a relief though to step into the lobby, the heavy door swinging shut leaving them standing surrounded by the smell of old wood and paper. The theater had been built in the 18th century and most of the interior was still original, or looked it anyway, decorated now to the nines to mimic Victorian Christmas décor in honor of the play that would soon be running. She turned to Shawn as they both hesitated in the entryway. “I really appreciate you doing this Shawn.”

  “Are you kidding?” he said, grinning like a kid going to see Santa. “This is so exciting! Oh and Wendy is thrilled about being invited to the wedding by the way, we’ll definitely be there – and when you said you needed help finding a dress, well you know I really can’t help with much usually, around the house and stuff. But this is so my area of expertise. Not personally but you know what I mean, and I was thrilled to be able to help, really!”

  Allie couldn’t help but be bemused at her roommate’s obvious enthusiasm as he went on about how happy he was to finally feel like he
was helping her with something and she realized that in a way Shawn must have felt a bit useless around the house where his particular skill set just didn’t carry over in any practical way. He paid his rent, but that was his only real contribution to the house, whereas everyone else did something else as well, whether it was security or cooking for the others, or magically maintaining the electrical systems. She had never thought that Shawn felt bad about not being able to help out with any of those things. Seeing his excessive happiness now at something as simple as being able to find her a wedding dress – hopefully – on short notice made it clear though that it did bother him.

  She smiled as he finally wound down and reached out to pat his arm gently, “It’s cool Shawn.”

  He smiled back then made a melodramatic bow, sweeping his arm towards a door in the back corner of the lobby, “Follow me, this way, I’ll take you to Janet’s workroom.”

  The door opened up to a hallway lit by weak fluorescent lights, and with doors along the inner wall every dozen feet. Shawn stopped at the third door, which bore an elaborate sign that said “Costumer” in calligraphy. He knocked lightly, and a moment later a woman’s voice could be heard inviting them in. He grinned back at Allie one more time then opened the door.

  The little room was stuffed full of rack upon tiered rack of clothing; stepping into it made Allie feel as if she’d stepped into a closet rather than an actual room. It was warm in here and smelled strongly of cloth and cedar, but the energy had a pleasant feel, and Allie imagined that this room was a nice refuge to hide in when you were upset or just needed a break from the real world. After a moment Allie noticed that in the midst of the clutter along part of the back wall was a long table and sitting in front of that table on a stool was an older woman, her grey streaked hair pulled back into a heavy braid. She was sowing the seam on what looked like a tunic, her hand moving with lightning speed. As the pair walked in and Shawn closed the door she looked up and smiled slightly, never missing a stitch, “Just give me a sec to finish this up and I’ll be right with you.”

  “Is that the Jimmy’s shirt for the piece we’re doing after this one?” Shawn asked.

  “It is indeed,” Janet said, knotting the thread at the end of the seam and snipping it with a small pair of silver scissors. The silver made Allie curious, but it would be rude to ask if the woman was anything except human. “Rehearsal is supposed to start right after new year’s and I want to have all the costumes done before then so there’s plenty of time to adjust things.”

  Janet set the piece down and stood slowly, stretching, then smiling at Allie, “You must be Allie, it’s nice to finally meet you.”

  “And you must be Janet,” Allie said, extending her hand, “Nice to meet you too.”

  They shook and Allie wasn’t surprised by the strength in the deceptively frail looking seamstress’s grip. As she was lowering her hand she caught a slight movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see the face of girl, maybe 12 or 13, peering out at her from the nearest rack of clothes. She opened her mouth to say hello, assuming it was Janet’s granddaughter perhaps, when the girl looked surprised for an instant and then faded from Allie’s sight.

  “You saw her too did you?” Janet said sagely, as Allie blinked at the space where the ghost had been a moment before.

  “Yes,” Allie said softly. “I didn’t realize the theater was haunted.”

  “You saw her? The ghost kid? Really?” Shawn said eagerly, peering around the room as if he expected the girl to manifest again. Allie knew it was unlikely he’d see her even if she did, if he hadn’t seen her a moment ago.

  “I saw her,” Allie said again, looking at Janet. “Who is she?”

  Janet shrugged, “No one knows for sure. She’s been around here for a long time; I think stories of her go back at least a hundred years if not longer. She likes it in here for some reason so I see her from time to time but she never causes me any problems.”

  “I never heard any stories about the theater being haunted.”

  “Yes, well,” Janet said, “it’s something of a secret. A town like this…you can imagine if word got out. We’d have people in here constantly harassing the poor thing.”

  “Why hasn’t anyone tried to, you know, help her move on?” Allie asked, wondering why her cousin, who had managed the theater until her death the previous summer, had never mentioned any of this. Secret or not Liz should have told Allie, and Allie could have tried to help the poor girl.

  Janet shrugged again, “I’m not sure. I think people have tried before but it’s never worked.”

  “Oh,” Allie said thoughtfully, some of her annoyance with Liz fading.

  Then Janet waved a hand, “Well enough of that, if we get started on ghost stories we’ll be here all night. Shawn said you were getting married and need a dress?”

  “Yes, and I’m afraid I need it in two days.”

  “Ah, the solstice,” Janet said, looking wistful. “Lovely time to marry. Never fear my dear, I love playing the fairy Godmother, and I have several pieces that may work. You can buy them for cheap from me and I’ll make any adjustments that are necessary.”

  Allie nodded mutely, unsure what to say to that and more than a bit thrown off by the fairy Godmother reference. Janet walked over to one of the racks and started moving hangers around, “Let me see, what do you think of this one?”

  She turned around with a deep green dress draped over her arm. It was long sleeved, the neckline plunged, and the hem looked to be about ankle length. The forest green fabric was touched at wrists and neck by a hint of crystal.

  “It’s beautiful, but I don’t think it’s quite right,” Allie said uncertainly.

  “Yeah,” Shawn agreed. “It’s not really Allie-ish.”

  “Hmmm,” Janet said thoughtfully. “Is it the color?”

  “No, I like the color,” Allie said, “and I’m not expecting white. There’s not much traditional about this wedding anyway. I guess it seems a bit…heavy? Formal? Something like that.”

  “Ah,” Janet said then turned back to the rack and began digging again. A moment later she pulled out a second dress, holding it the same way. This one was a light green, medieval bell sleeves, empire waist, square neckline, with embroidered ribbon around all the hems.

  “Closer,” Allie said. “But that waist – I can’t pull off an empire waist, not with my chest.”

  Janet nodded, looked contemplative for a moment then snapped her fingers. “I’ve got it. We used this one years ago in a Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the actress was just about your height and build.”

  She pulled a third dress from the racks, turning and holding it out towards them. It hung draped over her arm, gauzy and billowing even when it was still, a light almost grey green, with bright leaves and flowers embroidered around the neckline and the hem and scattered along the fluttering sleeves. Allie loved it immediately.

  “That’s it,” she and Shawn both said at once and then Allie giggled.

  “I had a feeling,” Janet said, sounding pleased. “Alright why don’t you try it on and we’ll see how it fits. Shawn show her where the ladies room is please?”

  “Sure thing, Allie follow me.”

  Allie took the dress, which turned out to be real silk if Allie was any judge, and followed Shawn back into the lobby and to the bathroom. “Go on back Shawn, I need to use the restroom anyway and then I’ll change and head back to Janet’s room.”

  “Okay,” he said agreeably. “I have a good feeling about this one though.”

  Allie slipped into the bathroom with the dress, hanging it carefully on one of the available coat hooks before slipping into a stall. She re-emerged a moment later and found herself face to face with the ghost she’d seen earlier.

  The girl was about a foot shorted than Allie, maybe four and half feet tall, petite in way that was better described as frail, wearing a plain off-white dress. Her hair was a light brown, her eyes dark in her pale face, and now that Allie had a longer, be
tter look she could easily see the slightly translucent quality to her that clearly marked her as a spirit. After a startled moment standing there, staring at the girl, Allie said softly, “Hello.”

  “You can see me,” the girl said, cocking her head to one side. The atmosphere around her was cold, typical for a ghost, but Allie sensed no malevolence, only curiosity.

  “I can see you,” Allie acknowledged.

  “Most people can’t,” the girl said. “Or if they do I scare them.”

  “I’ve seen ghosts before,” Allie said, and then, “And I’m not afraid of you.”

  The girl flashed a wide smile, her teeth white in her pale face, “You’re nice. I like you.”

  “You seem nice too,” Allie said. Then very cautiously, “I’m sorry you’re stuck here. It must be lonely.”

  The girl sobered, nodding. “It is. I wish I could find my mother. She used to work here, like the other woman you were with, making the costumes. She stayed even after…after I was gone. But when she died I stayed here.”

  “You can’t leave?” Allie said, again carefully, not wanting to upset the girl. That explains why she hangs around Janet she thought if her mother was a costumer here in the past she must like the familiarity.

  “No,” the ghost said quietly, her physical form flickering out momentarily as her emotions interfered with her focus. “I can’t. I stopped trying a long time ago. When he killed me I was here looking for my necklace. It was a gift from my father, before he died, and my mother would be so mad that I’d lost it.”

  For a moment Allie wasn’t sure why the girl had switched topics midsentence and then she understood. The girl had accidently bound herself, her spirit, to finding the missing necklace, probably by focusing on that thought in the last moments of her life. Allie thought quickly. Her soul is tied to the missing necklace, which is why no one else has been able to free her. She’s anchored to this plane, this place. “I may be able to help you, if you want me to.”